Fermented Spreadable Sweet Chestnut Cheese
Sweet and buttery, tangy and salty, this spreadable vegan chestnut cheese is ready to take all your dishes to the next level. It’s a great alternative to cream cheese, and pairs just as well with sweet dishes as it does with savory. You only need a handful of ingredients to get started, and after about 10 minutes of work you can leave it to ferment. Get your best cheese pairing ideas ready, chestnut cheese is here!
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Peeling Chestnuts
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How to Make Chestnut Cheese
Making your own fermented vegan cheeses is actually pretty simple- all you need to do is blend up your base, and let the microbes make it tasty for you. Typically I make my vegan cheeses with cashews, but this vegan chestnut cheese follows all the same steps. Fermentation can be scary if you’ve never done it, but I really recommend you give it a shot. Microbes can create a whole bunch of flavor if we give them the time and the right environment. If you’re a beginning cheese maker, follow a recipe to make sure you’re doing it right. The basic process is as follows:
Firstly, blend up your cheese base. In this case I used chestnuts with a little miso paste and water. Pay attention that your blender isn’t over heating before adding the starter culture- if the cheese is too hot the culture won’t survive. The easiest culture to get your hands on are probiotic supplements- they’re sold in pharmacies and grocery stores. If you want to take a first stab using them, it’s an easy way to get your feet wet. However I really recommend getting a culture meant for cheese making. They have a larger variety of the right type of microbes, and are going to give your chestnut cheese a better and more interesting flavor. Many cheese cultures contain lactose, so do a little research to find a vegan source. If you’re in the United States, here is a link to the culture that I used.
Move the cheese to a container and top with plastic wrap on the surface of the cheese to stop drying or discoloration. The best place to ferment is somewhere warm and not directly in the sun (that may get a little too hot for your cheese). Around 70 degrees Fahrenheit is a good temperature to aim for. After about 12 hours give the cheese a little taste. If it has a pleasant tang to it, you’re done. If not you may need up to 36 more hours to get the right level of fermentation. To slow the fermentation process, season with salt to taste and transfer the cheese to your fridge.
Fermented Spreadable Sweet Chestnut Cheese
Ingredients
- 270g. peeled chestnuts (about 2 cups)
- 1 tbsp. light miso paste
- 1-1 1/2 cups plant-based milk or water.
- 1/8th tsp. mesophilic starter culture (or 1/4 tsp. probiotic powder)
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Add your chestnuts and miso paste to a blender, along with about 1/2 cup of plant-based milk or water. Blend, adding as little liquid as possible while still obtaining a smooth blend. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed. Add your culture or probiotic powder and blend again briefly to combine.
- Transfer the chestnut cream to a bowl and smooth the surface. Add a piece of plastic wrap lightly on the surface of the cream, to prevent it drying out. Let the bowl sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours, but not more than 48 hours. Give it a taste every now and then, and once you have a pleasant level of tanginess you're ready.
- Once fermented, stir in salt to taste- I used about 1/2 tsp. Transfer to an air-tight container, and store in the fridge until eaten.
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I am a chestnut addict, in soups, roasted as an autumn treat when they are fresh, in pies, as the centrepiece during the holidays in a chestnut, butternut and cranberry wellington, in all kinds of desserts, crumbled into stirfries, added to salads, and so on. Heck I even add it to my mushroom pate to give a little more unctuousness and creaminess, but i had never thought to make cheese with it! I am so addicted to chestnuts that I always have packets and cans of whole chestnuts as well as the cans of chestnut purée (plain and sweetened) so that I can have these yummy nuts all year round. This recipe sounds amazing and can’t want to try it on some seeded oat cakes (am gluten intolerant). Thanks for sharing! ❤️
Just want to give a heads up, in the instructions, line 1, you have cashews instead of chestnuts.
Hi Shelley- I’m impressed by your chestnut dedication, and I think I’m headed in the right direction with you. This year they have been my winter obsession. I was so relieved to find frozen chestnuts in the Asian grocery store after the regular grocery stores stopped carrying them after Christmas. I can’t wait to keep on experimenting with them- I’ll be posting a simple but delicious chestnut recipe tomorrow, but that pate idea sounds like something I’m going to have to try. Thanks for the inspiration!
And thanks for noticing my cashew typo- vegan cheese-making habits die hard.